Tax is our business

Tax measures for residents owning cars with foreign license plates

Publication date 23 August 2013

Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Weekers, wants to ensure that more owners of cars with foreign license plates pay motor vehicle tax (motorrijtuigenbelasting; "MRB") and private motor vehicle and motorcycle tax (belasting van personenauto's en motorrijwielen; "BPM") in the Netherlands, if they are resident in the Netherlands or have been living and working here for a longer period of time. In answer to parliamentary questions, he has given an undertaking to include measures to this effect in the Tax Plan 2014.

As a rule, Dutch residents who own a car that is driven on Dutch public roads must pay MRB and BPM, regardless of whether the car has Dutch or foreign license plates. There are a few exemptions, such as an exemption for short-term use (a maximum of two weeks) of rental cars with foreign license plates hired abroad. However, it frequently occurs that residents with cars with foreign license plates fail to pay MRB or BPM. Deputy Minister Weekers now wants to deal with this situation by adopting a multidisciplinary approach, on the one hand through legislation, and on the other by way of monitoring and compliance.

Car owners who have been living and working in the Netherlands for a longer period of time must, in principle, pay MRB and BPM. Anyone who, within a six-month period resided in the Netherlands for four months, must register with the municipal database (gemeentelijke basisadministratie; "GBA"). Registration in the GBA means that their car must be registered in the Netherlands and it will be given a Dutch license plate. From that moment on MRB and BPM must be paid in the Netherlands.
Contact:Arjan Wolkers